


King of Swords

by samariumwriting



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Sparring, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 09:00:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30019347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samariumwriting/pseuds/samariumwriting
Summary: The evening saw them, as always, in the training grounds. Dedue raised his axe to block Dimitri’s strike. Dimitri’s thrust had all his weight behind it, and when he came into contact with Dedue’s weapon he stumbled backwards, overbalancing. In that instant, Dedue could see his greatest fears superimposed over his vision.-Dedue spars with Dimitri, and the encounter leaves him feeling off balance.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd & Dedue Molinaro
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9





	King of Swords

**Author's Note:**

> This was a piece written for the White Clouds tarot zine! I wrote two pieces and this was one of them, exploring the themes of the King of Swords card + Dedue.

The evening saw them, as always, in the training grounds. Dedue raised his axe to block Dimitri’s strike. Dimitri’s thrust had all his weight behind it, and when he came into contact with Dedue’s weapon he stumbled backwards, overbalancing. In that instant, Dedue could see his greatest fears superimposed over his vision. 

In place of Dimitri, there was Lambert: exhausted, bleeding, and calling out to his son one last time. The flames of the Tragedy licked at them both, screams echoing around them.

Dimitri only chuckled. The image was not real. “You win, Dedue,” he said, a small smile on his face. “Perhaps I’d do better with more sleep. I’ll call it a day for now.” Knowing better than to press Dimitri for more ways he could help him, Dedue let him go. The image of Lambert remained. Dedue knew it wasn’t real, but that didn’t stop the fear that it would happen again.

One day, Dimitri would be King, just like his father before him. Dedue being stronger than him wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, because Dimitri is kind and trusting and, in his position, would always need protecting.

But strength could come with a price. Dedue was no stranger to people’s fear of him. If he became ever stronger, stronger even than Dimitri, the distrust of those people would grow ever more potent. In that scenario, he might be driven from Dimitri’s side forever.

Carefully balancing the truth of the care in his heart against what others wanted to see was hard. The safest image was one of a devoted knight with no thoughts or desires bar Dimitri, but was that the truth? He knew it wasn’t.

He supposed he felt guilty about showing that face and no other to people; it was deception, pure and simple. Perhaps even Dimitri, close as they were, believed this half lie. Dedue wouldn’t be surprised if he’d failed to communicate his care alongside the devotion the whole world saw.

Sometimes he feared that even that affection was just a lie to obtain what his heart truly wanted: a resolution to the tragedy that had befallen his people. Maybe he was just using Dimitri to that end. He wondered if it was even possible to know.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments/kudos are super appreciated, and I hope you have a good day <3
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/samariumwriting)


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